Colonial Homes and Their FurnishingsNorthend, Mary Harrod
History
Colonial Homes and Their Furnishings
Northend, Mary Harrod
Architecture, Colonial; Furniture -- United States
America boasts of several fine collections of this ware, especially in
the New England states, where the chief ports for the trade were
located. The Bigelow collection at Boston includes, besides plates and
platters, rare bits of odd design, many of them characterized by
markings. One such piece is a hot-water receptacle, showing a shield
decoration on which are marked the initials "H. H. D." and the date
"1796." The lid is ornamented with two lines and the initials "R. G."
Several quaint lamps are other prized possessions in this collection,
some of them made about 1712, and most of them of American manufacture.
One of them, the smallest of the group, is marked "N. Y. Molineux."
Tankards of the "tappit hen" type are also preserved here, though they
are not precisely the same shape as the measures of Scotch make which
went by that name; other pieces included in the collection are cream
jugs, milk pitchers, spoons, forks, a water urn, and several odd
tankards.
Equally as interesting is the Caliga collection at Salem. Here are to be
seen quantities of this rare old ware, worked up into almost every
conceivable device, and several of the pieces are numbered among the
choicest in the country. A squatty little teapot with wooden handle is
among the most interesting specimens, and its history is in keeping with
its quaintness. It was secured by Mr. Caliga in a little German town
during his residence abroad, and soon after it came into his possession,
it was much sought after by a collector, who offered a large sum of
money for its acquirement. Mr. Caliga refused to part with it, and later
he learned that it was indeed a very rare piece, being a part of a set
which the collector was endeavoring to obtain for the Duke of Baden, who
owned one of the three pieces, the would-be purchaser having the second.
This teapot has for a hallmark an angel; a quaint sugar bowl of like
design, also in this collection, shows a crown and bird.
An odd pewter lamp, known as a Jewish or Seven Days' lamp, is included
in this collection, the receptacle for oil being in the lower portion.
There are two large pewter plates, also, one of which has the royal coat
of arms in the center, and is surrounded by the whorl pattern. These
plates measure about twenty inches across, and one has the hallmark of
three angels on the back.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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